Rescuers have found seven bodies and are searching for 13 missing people after a boat with 47 passengers on board capsized in Labuhan Batu Utara district of North Sumatra on Thursday, official said.
The accident took place after midnight in Berombang river in Panai Hilir sub-district when the boat carrying people returning from a tour to visit their relatives in Kuala-Ledong sub-district, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of national disaster agency.
"The boat was running out of fuel and was swept by the current. It hit a stake that make it destabilized and sank," he told Xinhua via phone.
"Seven bodies have been identified and the 13 missing persons are being searched," Sutopo said.
Visiting relatives are a tradition for Muslims in Indonesia during the Islamic festivity of Eid al-Fitr.
Rescuers from local search and rescue office, soldier and police are searching for the missing, he added.
Boat, with its low cost, is a favorite transport mean in Indonesia, an archipelago country, but low safety standard has often led to fatal accidents. On Tuesday, a wooden boat with 60 people on board capsized in Kapuas river of Central Kalimantan, leaving 15 people dead, three missing, rescuer said. --Xinhua